Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/525174
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 JUNE 2015 Sport MOTORSPORTS SAILING ETIENNE GRECH THE third round of the 2015 Is- land Car Club (ICC) Hillclimb Championship, sponsored by Grimaldi Lines was held recently at Xaghra, Gozo. The weather dawned crisp and sunny with a northerly cool breeze; the ideal weather for hill climbing, especially since the forecast expected relatively high temperatures. A total of 60 cars participated, varying from standard road legal cars right up to open single-seater racers. Participants indulged in tough conditions of the road, grip levels were extremely poor thus pro- viding the numerous spectators that lined the corners with some impressive skillful driving. Fabio Baldachino placed first in his Tony's Bar OMS 200M. He recorded his benchmark time of 48.919sec which marked an overall victory for the 26 year old. The young driver sped up in a spectacular manner, demon- strating to rivals that he could well be the man to beat. Mark Micallef, driving his Avon Fiamm Batteries Radical ProSport clinched second place with an ex- cellent time of 49.117sec. Kurt Camilleri placed a credita- ble third after a formidable drive in his Chevron Autodealer Ralt RT 36 single-seater, producing a blistering third run (49.894sec). Reigning champion Keith Camilleri on board his Radi- cal Prosport was fourth overall (50.177 secs) after a fine clean drive that nearly got him on the podium. Adam Galea was fifth fastest (51.907 secs) in his home-built Dalk whilst Matthew Zammit rounded off the top six overall standings in his Radical Club- sport (52.163 secs). Teddy Aquilina won best per- formance in the veteran category, achieving an excellent time of 58.200sec in his SR1. The top Touring cars of various sizes got engaged in an exhilarat- ing performance leaving the au- dience totally awestruck, many of them within tenths of a second away from each other. In the front-wheel drive se- ries, Luigi Mifsud (Honda Civic) placed first after narrowly out- pacing Etienne Grech (Citroen Saxo). Renato Farrugia managed third place in his Honda Integra. The honours for fastest four- wheel drive cars went to Charles Grech in his powerful Subaru Impreza whilst Luca Vella was runner up driving another Sub- aru Impreza. Guest competitor Jack Fenech (Audi S2 Quattro) claimed third place. Ryan Mangion was quickest in the rear wheel drive category, placing tenth overall in his Ford Escort Mk1. John Zammit (Lo- tus Elise) followed whilst Noel Galea (Ford Escort mk2) grabbed third. The next championship race is scheduled for Sunday 14th June at Mtahleb, limits of Rabat. Over 70 drivers are expected to race against the clock. The first run of the day commences at 9am. Baldachino dominates at Xaghra hillclimb event Mark Micallef in his Radical Prosport PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID AXISA Close racing and champagne sailing at the Mapfre Middlesea J70 Med Cup CLOSE racing, champagne sailing and smiles all round was the or- der for Sunday afternoon 7th July as the Mapfre Middlesea J70 Med Cup drew to an end. Teams bat- tled inside Marsamxett harbour, podium places were decided and the crowd celebrated with a glass or two of Veuve Clicquot. The J70 fleet is a one design class, meaning that all teams race in iden- tical boats. The first to cross the line wins. A regatta is sailed over a series of nine or so races of which each race counts, so consistency is key. Over the three day regatta all teams were extremely close, racing neck and neck. On day two Team Mapfre Middlesea started to pull ahead on the overall scoreboard however nothing separated Teams Gaba, Betsafe and Comanche Raider. It was all to play for down to the last race held inside Marsamx- ett Harbour. Mapfre Middlesea led from start to finish and secured top spot on the podium. Betsafe looked set to take second place however they stalled right on the line finishing two points behind Comanche Raider, enough for the latter to claim 2nd overall leaving Betsafe in third place. The last two races of the regatta were quite a spectacle, raced inside Marsamxett Harbour in full view of a crowd of spectators sipping Pimm's on the Royal Malta Yacht Club terrace. With the winners decided, sailors and guests congre- gated at the Yacht Club to award the podium positions. Fernando Docampo from Mapfre Middle- sea congratulated competitors for their fighting spirit. Awarded priz- es included bottles of Veuve Clic- quot and beautiful paintings by the talented Celia Borg Cardona. Team Mapfre Middlesea, regatta win- ners, shared their winnings with the crown and the Magnum bottle of Veuve Clicquot was duly opened for celebrations. A fantastic regatta both on and off the water, a worthy challenge for sailors to compete for. The Mapfre Middlesea J70 Med Cup was organised by the J70 Asso- ciation Malta and the Royal Malta Yacht Club under the auspices of the Malta Sailing Federation and supported by M. Demajo Wines & Spirits.